Government

State officials have found a minor hiccup in the wording of the new interlocal agreement between the city and county. But after a vote last week, the issue has been resolved.
At last Tuesday’s regular Fiscal Court meeting, County Attorney John Bertram told magistrates that the Department of Local Government found a common mistake in that a termination clause was left out of the agreement.

Mowing of nuisance property was a topic of much debate at Tuesday's regular Taylor Fiscal Court meeting, just as it has at earlier meetings this year. But once again, magistrates ultimately took no action.

Taylor County Judge/Executive Eddie Rogers told magistrates that he has a list of 14 properties outside the city limits that have been declared nuisances. Rogers said he gets calls nearly every day reporting nuisances.

The city's crystal ball seems to be in perfect working order. Despite a 24.5 percent increase in health insurance rates last year, Campbellsville Mayor Tony Young and City Clerk Cary Noe budgeted for a 10 percent increase this year thanks to some predictions from health care insiders.

As it happens, 10 percent was a little on the high side. During a special meeting Monday, Campbellsville City Council members approved new health insurance rates for city employees.

During Campbellsville City Council's regular meeting Monday, Mayor Tony Young told Council members that the city will not receive the $1 million state Community Development Block Grant it had applied for. And the reason why left Young and a few council members upset.

"[Department for Local Government Commissioner Tony Wilder] told me we're not going to get it. He said our water rates were too low," Young said.

Congressman Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, and PRIDE recently announced that Taylor County and Campbellsville met the "Get Five for PRIDE" challenge during PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month, the anti-litter campaign in southern and eastern Kentucky in April.

"Last year, I couldn't believe more than 30,000 people would volunteer to pick up trash across the region, but PRIDE volunteers had another record-breaking year for 2011," Rogers stated. "The old tires and used appliances tossed over the hillsides are finally becoming a thing of the past.

Just as at a Campbellsville City Council meeting the night before, a discussion about the Economic Development Authority took center stage at Tuesday night's regular Taylor Fiscal Court meeting.

Mark Johnson, chairman of the Campbellsville/Taylor County Economic Development Authority Board, said he wants to talk to magistrates about whether the EDA is doing what is expected. And, if not, he said, the EDA's purpose needs to be clarified.

A possible miscommunication led to a lengthy discussion regarding the future of the Economic Development Authority during Monday night's special Campbellsville City Council meeting.

Mark Johnson, chairman of the Campbellsville/Taylor County Economic Development Authority Board, told Council members that he needs clarification on recent actions taken by the City Council and Taylor Fiscal Court regarding EDA funding.